Brazil, CARICOM to Hold Haiti Aid Meeting in 30 Days

People’s Daily Online

Brazil and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) promised Monday to convene a high-level meeting in 30 days to discuss ways to help Haiti recover from a devastating earthquake.

The meeting between the Brazilian government and the CARICOM secretariat will be aimed at establishing modalities of trilateral cooperation with Haiti in sheltering, educational and agricultural aid, among others, the leaders said in the Declaration of Brasilia, a statement issued after the First Brazil-CARICOM Summit in Brasilia.

Leaders from Brazil and the CARICOM members, which include Haiti, gathered for the first time in the Brazilian capital to discuss how to build on bilateral cooperation.

Haiti, a member of the 14-member CARICOM, and Brazil signed several cooperation agreements at the Brazil-CARICOM Summit. Haitian President Rene Preval held a private meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Preval asked for support from Brazil and other members of the international community for the elections of deputies and senators in May and the presidential election in February next year.

He also expressed his thanks for Brazilian support both in restoring peace in his country and in relief efforts to help victims of the earthquake of Jan. 12, which killed over 300,000 and made many more homeless

“I want to thank President Lula and the Brazilian government, the Congress and people of Brazil for the support they are giving us since 2004 for the stability in Haiti,” he said.